Tag Archives: Outdoor Games

at least one object (like a ball) or 2 objects for a more challenging game

Where to Play

inside or outside

How to Play:
The leader of the game arranges everyone into a circle and then begins play by passing the first object to the person on their right (Participant A). The leader says to Participant A, “this is a whit.”

Participant A asks the leader, “a what?” and the leader responds, “a whit.”

Participant A then passes the object to the person on their right (Participant B) and says, “this is a whit.”

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How to Play:

The leader arranges the group in a circle and then tells them to close their eyes and lower their heads. The leader calls out “1-2-3 look!” As the leader calls “look,” the participants look up at a specific person.

If two people are looking at one another, they are both out. If a participant is looking at someone who is looking at another person, they are both still in the game.

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How to Play:
Before the game starts, set up four cones in a square with about 20-30 feet between each cone.

Divide the group into four smaller teams. Each team should come up with a team name. Tell the teams which cone is #1, #2, #3, and #4.

Have the teams line up around cone #1 with each team facing the cone from a different direction. Once they have lined up, the leader will tell them that they must line up this way every time. They must be facing the cone from the same direction and they must be in the same order.

The leader calls out a different cone number and the teams race to get to the cone and then to line up properly around it. The first team to line up on the right side of the cone, in the right order, and shouts their team name wins a point.

Play continues with the leader deciding how many points it will take to win.

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inside or outside in a space large enough for your group to move around in

How to Play:The leader tells the group to stand up and start “mingling.” This means the participants must keep moving around the space while the instructions are being given. The leader should play the game along with everyone else.

The leader will then tell the participants to choose another person in the room. They can choose anyone but they cannot make their choice known to anyone else, even the person they chose. They must make this decision silently and discreetly.

The leader then tells the participants that they must try to get 9 feet away from the person they chose without that person realizing it. The leader will give them some time to sort this out before he/she says “3, 2, 1, freeze.” At this point, everyone stands still.

Next, the leader tells the participants that, while keeping the first person, they must choose a second, different, person and try to stay 6 feet away from them. So, at the same time they will be staying 9 feet away from their 9-feet person and 6 feet away from their 6-feet person. Again, the leader will give the group some time to do this and then will say, “3, 2, 1, freeze.”

The leader will now tell the participants that they must pick out a third, different, person that they must stay 3 feet away from. They must do this while still remaining 6 feet away from their second person and 9 feet away from their first person. Once the group has had enough time, the leader will say “3, 2, 1, freeze” and everyone will stand still again.

The leader asks everyone to sit down in a group.

The Debriefing:The leader calls up their 9 foot person (Participant 1) and then asks Participant 1 to call up their 9 foot person (Participant 2). The leader then asks the Participant 2 to call up one of their choices (the leader can decide if it will be 3, 6, or 9). The leader should continue this until there are about 4 participants standing and the leader was not following the last person to stand up.

For example, the leader chose Frances as his/her 9 foot person. The leader calls Frances up and asks her to call up her 9 foot person. Frances calls up Johnny and the leader asks him to call up his 6 foot person. Johnny calls up Penny. Because the leader also chose to follow Penny, he/she asks her to call up her 3 foot person. She calls up Robbie.

The leader tells the group that he/she was following Frances, Frances was following Johnny, Johnny was following Penny, and Penny was following Robbie. The leader points out that he/she had no interaction with Robbie because he/she was not following Robbie but Robbie made all the difference in what the leader had to do. When Robbie moved, so did Penny and Johnny and Frances and ultimately, the leader.

The leader should then relate this kind of situation to camp. It’s useful to tie this in with the way everyone’s actions or attitudes affect everyone else at camp. It’s best to tailor this discussion specifically to your camp or group.

Video:Camp Leadership has a great video which shows how to play the game and how to debrief it!

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inside or outside in a space large enough for your group to run around safely

How to Play:This game is like regular tag except that the person who is “it” gets to choose which animal everyone else (including themselves) will have to emulate.

The “it” person will choose the animal and then give the rest of the participants 3 seconds to re-position themselves. If the “it” person chose ‘turtle’ they would have to chase everyone like a turtle and the participants would have to run away like a turtle. If the animal is one that makes noise, the participants must also make the noise of that animal.

Play continues as long as the participants can come up with new animals!

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a large ball for adults or older children or a small ball for younger children

Where to Play

outside in an open area that is safe for running

How to Play:
Before the activity begins, mark out an area with pylons or other markers. This area should be large enough for the whole group to fit inside of it but not so large that the participants are far away from one another.

The leader will choose someone to be “it”. This person is Atlas and must carry the Earth (the ball). The leader will explain that Atlas is always carrying the Earth and that it gets heavy sometimes. He/she will explain that Atlas is going to try to get other people to help him/her to carry the Earth.

Atlas can carry and run with the ball anywhere inside the playing area. The participants must remain inside the playing area at all times. If anyone else touches the ball, they are on Atlas’ team. Atlas can try to get other people on his/her team in any way he/she can. This game is very similar to dodge ball, except that even if you catch the ball you’re still “out” and have to help Atlas.

Atlas’ helpers can move freely around the playing area when they don’t have the ball. While carrying the ball, they can only move 3 steps before they must try to get someone out with it or pass it to another member of Atlas’ team.

The game ends when only one person remains and everyone else has been recruited by Atlas.

How to Play:
Everyone thinks of or writes down three things about themselves. They should be things that other people in the group may not know about them. Two of these things have to be true and one of them false.

The participants take turns sharing their three things and the rest of the group votes on whether they are true or false. This game is a great way to learn new things about people!

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a group of 10+ works best, larger groups may want to split up into multiple groups

Materials:

none

Where to Play:

inside or outside

How to Play:
Everyone stands in a circle with no spaces in between them. For this game to be effective, the participants must get really close!

The object of the game is to pass a snort around the circle, trying to make one another laugh. Someone starts the game, let’s call him/her Participant A, by snorting at the person on his/her left. The person on the left, we’ll call him/her Participant B, has to maintain eye contact while trying not to laugh! Participant B then has to turn and snort at the person on his/her left. The snorts are passed this way for a while and people who laugh while being snorted at are out!Continue reading →